1.) What percentage of the players DEVOTE time to field practice, technique improvement, etc.? By devote, I mean is there a consistent, disciplined amount of practice time off the course either weekly or bi-weekly2.) Do these players consistently score better and show faster rates of improvement?

The second question may answer itself...I'm curious about these because we have alots of folks in the Memphis Disc Golf Club and I never see them at the local parks and I never hear about anyone putting time into off-field practice....As a 35 year old father and husband, I place emphasis on putting in my yard w a basket and my approach game because I can easily make time for these....I want to know thje percentage of players really devoting themselves to the finer points of the game.

"Strange women distributing swords from the bottom of ponds is no basis for a government"

Field practice helps you to become more versatile. The guys at leagues who do not put in feild time (like most i know of around here, going out and practicing max D doesn't count), may be good at playing every hole on the local courses, but will struggle more when out of their element over players who are more field trained.

1.) Not many. I'm one of the very very few in the area that practices off the course. Generally I devote 1 hour of time off the course for every round I play, more than that if there is specifically something I want to work on. Most of my practice time goes into putting and approaches, as well as the right pec drill. Every once and a while I pull out all the drivers and get some serious full drive work, but that doesn't happen very often.

2.) From personal experience, I have had an accelerated learning curve, and my game has improved faster and become much more consistent than people who started playing around the same time...and I'm able to compete on a daily basis with guys that have been playing 10-20 years longer than I have.

I wish I could give you more feedback on this, but like I said I'm one of the very few people that practices off the course in my area.

Thatdirtykid wrote:Field practice helps you to become more versatile. The guys at leagues who do not put in feild time (like most i know of around here, going out and practicing max D doesn't count), may be good at playing every hole on the local courses, but will struggle more when out of their element over players who are more field trained.

This is very true as well. If you are good at throwing shots, you will be good at throwing shots on any course...where as if you are good at playing a specific course, you will struggle when you aren't on that particular course or two.

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. -Lou Holtz -

victorb wrote:1.) Not many. I'm one of the very very few in the area that practices off the course. Generally I devote 1 hour of time off the course for every round I play, more than that if there is specifically something I want to work on. Most of my practice time goes into putting and approaches, as well as the right pec drill. Every once and a while I pull out all the drivers and get some serious full drive work, but that doesn't happen very often.

2.) From personal experience, I have had an accelerated learning curve, and my game has improved faster and become much more consistent than people who started playing around the same time...and I'm able to compete on a daily basis with guys that have been playing 10-20 years longer than I have.

I wish I could give you more feedback on this, but like I said I'm one of the very few people that practices off the course in my area.

Thatdirtykid wrote:Field practice helps you to become more versatile. The guys at leagues who do not put in feild time (like most i know of around here, going out and practicing max D doesn't count), may be good at playing every hole on the local courses, but will struggle more when out of their element over players who are more field trained.

This is very true as well. If you are good at throwing shots, you will be good at throwing shots on any course...where as if you are good at playing a specific course, you will struggle when you aren't on that particular course or two.

VictorB..that is exactly the kind of thing I am looking for!

"Strange women distributing swords from the bottom of ponds is no basis for a government"

Well, I can't say for sure yet, since our course still isn't finished, but from the disc golfers I know here, about half really go out and practice a lot (field practice 3 times a week at least, putter practice on the side, constantly fondling discs and working on grip and swinging inside the house trying to feel elbow chop among other things...) while the others don't really practice outside of playing and don't even play that often.

Too bad the half I'm talking about is me, turso and one of our friends. =)

I'll try to keep an eye on the situation when the course is finished and people really take up the sport.

Parks wrote:If the posts on this forum are any indication, the PD is like a Teebird with sunshine coming out of its butthole so hard that it flies faster.

I like to go out a couple times a week. I have a bunch of soccer fields by my place. I use the goals as targets since I don't have a portable basket yet. I take my two kids with me and they like fetching the discs.

In our club I would guess about 30% of the regulars are putting in serious practice time on the field. They tend to improve a lot faster. Especially the 'newer' players (myself included) who have played for 2 years or less. I've started out with scores around 85 last fall, now I am consistenly scoring in the low 60's (par 57, I've still to break par on our course, though ) But I guess the importance is really what to focus on when you field practice. I find it hard to stand on a flat soccer field and throw 150 feet anhyzers as practice. In an open field, I tend to practice throwing accurately, throw soft and hard, and with good form - just empty my bag, go collect and throw back again. In my opinion field practice is great for form, accuracy, consistency and learning how your discs fly. All of these tings will benefit your overall score a lot, and people who do that here show faster improvements. For the finesse shots, I prefer to practice them in the situation on the course. I sometimes throw 5-6-7 shots from the same lie and try to execute the throw as good as possible. Throwing a finesse anhyzer shot in an open field is easy, but throwing it in between trees on the course is a different matter.

I hereby commit myself to actually do the drills, rather than just trying them for a few times and expect results.

I've only been playing for over a year now and compete with guys who have been playing for many years more than I. I would say that over 50% of my "practice" time is out in a field working on Max D, All hyzers you can think of, all anhyzers you can think of, Overhands, rollers, etc. I bring out my basket when I want to incorporate a target and a different type of putting practice than in my back yard.

I have a nice field near where I live that has lots of goal posts and backstops set up here and there, and a few trees and basketball courts too. Since I'm rarely home this year, I almost never go out there and practice at the moment. But my last sessions included right pec drilling my Champ Orc into a backstop (the disc needed beating in), and throwing through two target windows from a certain angle. It was fun, and challenging to hit some of the lines I dreamt up. It might be cool if we could have two large rings on movable posts that could be hoisted up in the air and positioned to practice hitting both windows from a certain throwing position.

Anyways, I know I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't put some time into field practice. It can be grueling sometimes if you're working through some issues, but very much worth it in the long run. At my peak I was probably doing 3 hours of field practice a week.

now that i think of it there really are not any person that i see or know that practice accept for like 3 that i can think of, and they are really good.

other than that i doubt there is anyone that has a steady routine or steady anything that go out consistently. sometimes when i am bored and do not really want to work on anything in particular ill just go out and throw soccer goals all day.

masterbeato wrote:i have been devoting between like 3-6 hours a day lately between in the field, and at my house.

How!!!! Do you not have a job/wife/life outside DG!?!?!?

I am already having to skip off work early, lie to my colleagues and wife (who must be suspecting me of an affair by now) just to get in 4 or 5 hours of on and off course practice during the week! How do people find so much time, this is before I even begin to start trying to play all the other sports I want to. Whats the secret to being able to be out on the course all the time without getting a divorce/handing in my notice to work. The worst thing is the wife is now talking about babies, can you take a one month old out on a field for three hours in the middle of winter? That's not child abuse is it

For people w/ rough schedules, its about quality over quanity.Most people, just play rounds all day long, then theres the minority of us that do actually train/practice. W/ 2 jobs, school- grad school next year, I schedule my training sessions like I do w/ workouts in the gym, you have to make time, even if it means waking up eariler. Make a set routine and do in the field, even if its only an hour or less 3-4x/week. I have only been playing 2 years so experience I lack, but I make sure nobody out works me, if they beat me, its not b/c they outworked me. Work ethic is key!!

Tossin' in Memphis wrote:1.) What percentage of the players DEVOTE time to field practice, technique improvement, etc.? By devote, I mean is there a consistent, disciplined amount of practice time off the course either weekly or bi-weekly

Id say ~10%

Tossin' in Memphis wrote:2.) Do these players consistently score better and show faster rates of improvement?

For the most part yes, however there are a few which continue to practice the wrong things over and over and will not listen to anyone.

I suck equally at driving and puttingI know I don't do near enough field work on driving but I do a fair bit of putting practice

how much should be devoted to each?

it is easier given light issues and free time for me to practice putting as I can do it in my basementI think my putting is getting better but I am still only 50% (probably)

I know that if I could get to the point of driving to 375-400 (from current 300-325) I could probably have a lot of pick up birdiesbut getting that additional 75 to 100 feet isn't really looking likely at the moment

so if I am doing 2 to 3 hours of putting a week is that reasonable?

drive for show putt for dough and all that

if a person has 4 hours a week to practice should it be 50/50 or greater on putting than driving or greater on driving than putting???